Respect (song)

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"Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. The song became a 1967 hit and signature song forR&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told by the songs have a different flavor. Redding's version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants. He won't care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect, when he comes home ("respect" being a euphemism). However, Franklin's version is a declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his "respect". Franklin's version adds the "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" chorus and the backup singers' refrain of "Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me..."

At first a ballad, it was written by Redding for Speedo Sims, who intended to record it with his band, the Singing Demons. Redding rewrote the lyrics and sped up the rhythm. Speedo then went with band to the Muscle Shoals studios, but was unable to produce a good version. Redding then decided to sing the song himself, which Speedo agreed to. Redding also promised to credit Speedo on the liner notes, but this never happened; Speedo, however, never charged him for not doing so.

The song was included on Redding's third studio album, Otis Blue (1965). [2] The album became widely successful, even outside of his largely R&Band blues fan base. When released in the summer of 1965, the song reached the top five on Billboard's Black Singles Chart, and crossed over to pop radio's white audience, peaking at number thirty-five there. At the time, the song became Redding's second largest crossover hit (after "I've Been Loving You Too Long") and paved the way to future presence on American radio. Redding performed it at the Monterey Pop Festival.[3]

The two versions of "Respect" as performed by Otis Redding originally and later re-imagined by Aretha Franklin are significantly different. While both songs have similar styles and tempos the writers and performers of the lyrics clearly had two different messages in mind when producing these songs. The songs only differ lyrically in the refrains while the verses by and large stay the same. Otis Reddings version plays out as follows:

Though it isn't much of a refrain as most of Redding's version is made up of shorter verses, this line appears as a conclusion to every verse and echoes into the next line tying it all together. Redding's short refrain comes at the end of each verse and leads into the next. Redding's version was written from the perspective of a hardworking man who can only look forward to getting home and finally receiving the respect he deserves from his family. His version is less a plea for respect and more a comment on a man's feeling of worth in his work life and at home. The original version of "Respect" was produced by Steve Cropper, who also played instrumentals for the hit track along with William Bell and Earl Sims on backup vocals.

The inspiration for the song had come when, in response to Redding's complaints after a hard tour, MGs drummer Al Jackson reportedly said, "What are you griping about? You're on the road all the time. All you can look for is a little respect when you come home".[5]

Producer Jerry Wexler brought Redding's song to Franklin's attention. While Redding's version was popular among his core R&B audience, Wexler thought the song had potential to be a crossover hit and to demonstrate Franklin's vocal ability. "Respect" was recorded on February 14, 1967.

When Aretha Franklin re-imagined the song it took on a whole new meaning. While still maintaining much of the original lyrics she made it her own anthem by adding a few key lines. This climactic break near the end of the song contains new lyrics and powerful new, soon-famous hooks:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care ... TCB

Sock it to me, Sock it to me, Sock it to me, Sock it to me [etc]

The repeated "sock it to me" line, sung by Franklin's sisters Erma and Carolyn, was an idea that Carolyn and Aretha had worked out together; spelling out "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" was (according to engineer Tom Dowd) Carolyn's idea.[6]

The Redding composition had no bridge section, so producer Jerry Wexler added one in which King Curtis' tenor saxophone soloed over the chords from Sam and Dave's song "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby".[6] Spooner Oldham played piano for the number; in an interview[citation needed] he explained it was not uncommon for Franklin herself to play accompanying piano.[further explanation needed]

The resulting song was featured on Franklin's 1967 breakthrough Atlantic Records debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. As the title track became a hit on both R&B and pop radio, Atlantic Records arranged for the release of this new version of "Respect" as a single.

Franklin's rendition found greater success than the original, spending two weeks atop the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and eight weeks on the Billboard Black Singles chart. The changes in lyrics and production drove Franklin's version to become an anthem for the increasingly large Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. She altered the lyrics to represent herself, a strong woman demanding respect from her man.[7] It also became a hit internationally, reaching number ten in the United Kingdom, and helping to transform Franklin from a domestic star into an international one. Otis Redding himself was impressed with the performance of the song. At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song".

The last line is often misquoted as "Take out, TCP", or something similar, and indeed most published music sheets which include the lyrics have this incorrect line in them. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and "T-C-B" are not present in Redding's original song,[9] but were included in some of his later performances with the Bar-Kays. There seems to be some confusion over who first used "T-C-B" in the song. In a musical episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, Babs Bunny lip synchs to Respect. This line plays during a fight scene with the title above the brawl. During the fight, the letters TCP are removed from the word to tie up one of the series' antagonists.

"TCB" is an abbreviation, that was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s, meaning "Taking Care (of) Business", and it was particularly widely used in African-American culture.[10] However, it was somewhat less well-known outside of that culture,[11] yielding a possible explanation as to why it was not recognized by those who transcribed Franklin's words for music sheets. Nevertheless, "TCB in a flash" later became Elvis Presley's motto and signature, from his necklace to his private jet plane.

Franklin's lyrics most probably influenced hip-hop's later use of both the word "proper" and "props" in the context of proper respect. She proclaims that she is about to give him all her money, and that all she's asking is for him to give her "her propers", when he gets home.

Although a slightly different composition, Prince Buster's ska song of the same name released on his 1965 album Ska-Lip-Soul album was clearly inspired by Otis Redding's original. In 1966, theJohn Evan Band, now Jethro Tull, made a cover version of the song originally released by Otis Redding in 1965. This is a rather rare cover of the song, but still one of the earliest. It can be found on a bootleg of a concert given by the John Evan Band in the town of Casterton, England in 1966.

Despite being overshadowed, Redding's version is still considered a soul classic, and highly regarded by fans of Stax-Volt and southern soul recordings. The Vagrants, a Long Island, New Yorkblue-eyed soul group recorded a version of Respect in 1967, which became a minor hit in the Eastern United States. Another regional band that had a hit with the song was the Michigan-based rock band The Rationals, whose 1966 release of the song received airplay on Detroit radio stations and predated the release of Aretha Franklin's version by a year. The Rotary Connection also have a version of the song, recorded in 1969 for Chess Records.

Ike and Tina Turner released it on their 1971 double live album What You Hear Is What You Get (Live at Carnegie Hall).[12]

Janis Joplin also recorded the song. Joplin's version is similar to Redding's, although it was a September 1968 studio improvisation, and goes up only to 1st chorus, after which Janis stops, saying: "Another, another". This recording is released only on the unofficial album "Rarer Pearls", which contains various other Joplin studio and live cuts.[13][14]

Dexys Midnight Runners frequently included the song in their live set, and have issued at least two different live recordings of the song. A house music cover was released by singer Adeva in 1989, and reached #17 in the UK singles chart. The song was covered by the Basque fusion-rock band Negu Gorriak, translated as "Errespetua" (respect in euskara) for their 1996 cover album Salam, agur. After the band's split, singer Fermin Muguruza continued to perform his version of the song in some of his solo projects' concerts, and it appeared as the final track on his live albumKontrabanda - Barcelona, Apolo 2004-I-21.

In 1997, ABC used a re-written version of the song for an advertisement for Recess, replacing the lyrics in order to be about the show, and changing the chorus to "R-E-C-E-S-S".

In 2002, En Vogue performed the song on their concert DVD, "Live in the USA".

In the film Are We There Yet? (released in 2005), Lindsey Kingston (portrayed by Aleisha Allen) sings her rendition of this song on the stage during the party and dances in the interlude.

In 2011 Misha B auditioned for the UK The X Factor, with a 'show-stopping'[17] cover of "Respect".[18]The Voice commented 'a petite, confident, yet coy, Mancunian', delivered one of the more 'memorable auditions' ... the show had ever seen ... 'with the ease and grace of a pro'.[19]